Mountain Canopy

Tis the season for rock skis! The US is seeing low snow this year.  Snow reports for California East to Colorado are barely out of the teens and just starting to increase. Some areas are reporting up to 40inches. Farther north in Wyoming through the Canadian Rockies and in BC things look better and in some cases awesome. New Mexico is doing good too.  I am referencing www.snocountry.com  here… you can see for yourself.

What does this mean for the average skier like myself? Keep those old rock skis mounted. Leave those wide reverse camber skis at home for the next month no need to tear them up.  Be careful out there: no need to get injured in bad conditions.

The real question here is what will happen with our water supplies?  Last year we had the 25year record for highest run off and a huge snowpack.  Looking at the reservoirs:  Lake Powell rose 51ft last year between April 15^th and August 1^st but today (Jan 12^th 2012) is only about 14ft higher than it was today 2011.  It is currently at 61 feet below its full level and at 65% of full capacity.  Lake Mead has been on the continual rise for 14months now, and is 47ft above its level one year ago today.

Looking at the snowpack: the Upper Colorado Basin ended last ski season at 250% of its average snowpack. Today it is at 60% compared with ~140% for last year in January.

Check out: www.water-data.com to do your own investigation of what our snowpack is doing.  Look at the graphs yourself!

What does all this mean for UpSkiing? Well: nothing new! We will be out again this year exploring more locations inside and outside of Colorado.  We are looking forward to the longer days ahead and awesome wind that springtime brings.

Cheers – Kevin

November 1st – 7th 2011

In excellent warm weather, we ride our bikes across Livorno from our hotel to the port. Traffic is not as bad as I expect, and by my standards Livorno proves to be a fairly typical Italian town. It has 3-4 story tall white & cream colored buildings, narrow one way roads, and Italians… everywhere! At the port, it takes a bit of fooling around to find where to go: we don’t have tickets yet, and although one of the company’s (Corsica Ferries) boats can be seen from ¼ mile away… the path to get there is designed for peak season when hundreds – thousands of cars might be transported to Corsica or Sardinia. Now it is low season and only ~100 cars wait to load our ferry in addition to a bus load of German tourists.

Our ferry arrives & unloads in Livorno whist we stand and watch. When the unloading is complete, a lone cycle tourist stands across the road where we wait. He looks like he knows his business: fully loaded with matching front and rear paniers… all top notch waterproof Orlieb gear. He wears a backpack and on it a spare rim for his wheel. It strikes me as funny: one must carry lots of assorted spare parts to decide to carry a spare rim. What is the likelihood of damaging a rim & not being able to find a replacement near by? Where else has he been riding that he carries such spare parts… Africa? I would like to ask him questions and make small talk, but instead we load the ferry. From the sun deck we watch him walk away from the ferry & down the middle of an empty 3 lane wide port road heading towards town.

Our own supply of spare parts and repair tools includes a leatherman, a socket-head multi-tool, a spoke wrench, 3 tire levers, tape, 2 pipe clamps, a handfull of zipties, locktite, spare M5 screws, tire patch kit, 1 spare tube of each size, and a small bike pump. We have not yet had any major problems, not a flat tire… not even a low tire. Our repair kit has gone unused and treated us well.

The Italians are not quite like the Swiss and Germans, and the vessel leaves port no less than one hour late. The ferry cuts through the water surprisingly fast and at 160m long, it is capable of transporting 2000 passengers & 500 cars. The exterior paint job hides the boats true age, but once on-board we see that it is not the newest of boats. Its unkempt on-deck swimming pool needs an overhall, a few doors and bathrooms are listed as out of service, and the interior design is due for an upgrade. Perhaps it previously operated as a luxury cruise ship and has now been put to more practical uses. The boat vibrates horribly with the engines running during the four hour trip.

We wait out the ride on the ship’s rear sundeck and after sunset in the adjacent indoor lounge making small talk with some of the German tourists. The Mediterranean is surprisingly calm and flat for the duration of the journey… as if there is no wind at all. Its partly cloudy and warm… the warmest weather we’ve had in weeks. We arrive in Bastia well after dark and make quick work of finding the bed in our hotel room.

The following day, we do typical things upon arrival in a port city: stock up on food, send emails, and get info from the tourist office. My favorite way to hit a tourist office is to find someone who speaks English and simply explain that we arrived without any plans, accommodations, nor reservations… ‘can you please advise?’ This usually leads to getting a local map & a partial list of hotels. We how have 8 days to explore the island by bike, and perhaps rent sea kayaks, a small sailboat, or take kitesurfing lessons… all seems to good to be true!

Corsica is in the Mediterranean Sea 200km west of Italy, 300km south of France. Although French in nationality, culturally it is a mix of both countries. The island is 250km long and 100km wide (at most). The terrain is a mix of sandy beaches, sea cliffs, vineyards, dolomite spires, mountains, and no less than 5 ski resorts. (or so we conclude from the tourist info)

After lunch on our first day, we bike north out of town riding the 35km to the northernmost town and end of the road on the island. Heavy rain clouds sit over the mountainous interior of the island whilst we ride in descent sunshine & warmth (my first day riding only in shorts). The road is manageably hilly and pleasant whilst following the coast from town to town. Most of the traffic on this shoulder-less 2 lane road dissipates within the first 5km of leaving Bastia.

We are by no means cursed, and have continued to have the best of luck on this trip. BUT, while we ride- a modest tail wind builds behind us and the calm flat water of yesterdays boat trip turns into increasingly choppy water. 10km out of town I start to notice a distinctive catch when using my rear breaks. It seems to thump once per rotation when I engage the break. They have been fine up until now, and I haven’t put much thought into them since we have mostly been riding flat terrain. Back home in the mountains of Colorado I am very particular about inspecting my breaks – a ritual at the top of every big pass.

Upon arrival in the small town and harbor of Macinaggio, the weather has built into a strong Southern wind and the forecast tells us it is expected to turn to force 4 winds and rain by morning. To leave Macinaggio we will now need to fight a headwind in excess of 30mph and rain. Our original plan is to traverse the island to the opposite coast (15km) and continue back south; instead we take shelter in a small room in the towns cheapest hotel. It has a large window and deck overlooking the harbor. Stranded?… sort of!

2 days later, the boats below still rock violently in their harbor slips – shaken by the wind. Our pastime of watching the waves crash through & overcome the habor’s breaker wall continues to be a source of entertainment. Sheets of rain comes in short fierce bursts a few times an hour.

Macinaggio consists of about 200 full time residents, 2 small supermarkets, 1 bakery, 1 gas station, 5 small older hotels/B&Bs, and a handful of shops/restaurants. All the main buildings are lined up together along the main & only road which follows the harbor perimeter. It is off-season and we share the town with only locals and a few sailors waiting out the storm. The harbor is nearly full with ~200 boats, a mix of all types. Whitecaps cover the ocean out to the point where the horizon mixes with the gray sky.

Since our arrival, not a single boat has entered or left the harbor- not to our surprise. However, a growing number of windsurfers arrive on the first day of strong winds. A windsurfer is one of the fastest wind powered vessels: for many years holding the speed record (56mph) over millions of invested dollars in purpose built speed sailboats. A wind surfer is also capable of jumping in excess of 15 feet out of the water with the choppy conditions we experience. My jaw drops at the speed and agility at which the windsurfers move in this wind.

Perhaps it is fate… or payback for my mockery of the other cyclist carrying a spare rim. Undeniably, my rear rim’s braking surface is damaged: cracked, dented, bulged and grooved out badly. In particular a two inch segment is cracked and the adjacent segment of rim has bulged out noticeably. The brake pads are warn down well past the indicator grooves, but not quite to the support plastic. Rear brake pads are inaccessible and harder to inspect on a bike loaded with a rack and the permanently affixed pannier. It would be possible to replace the rim- if I had… or could get a spare. But, this fix will have to wait at least a few days and renders my rear brake unsafe. Without the good rear brake, we will need to avoid steep descents & abrupt stops.

After 3 days of force 4 wind & partial rain, the town electricity becomes intermittent. As of now, we still wait at the end of the island. And our departure is still unknown. We will not be getting the full fledged island tour that we had hoped for.

November 1^st 2011

Noble Steed… is a term I often hear bestowed upon bicycles back home. More specifically back in Colorado upon extremely high-tech expensive full suspension mountain bikes. We see these ‘Noble Steeds’ throughout Europe, particularly in the ski area mountain towns and here & there throughout the countryside. I’d rather see my bike as a wild mustang… in really it is more of an old mare.

We buy our bikes in Zurich and after a day of rigging & test riding we are off on the train heading to the Swiss border making final use of our discount train card. Lake Konstanz sits on the German/Swiss border and is the headwaters to the Rhine river. We escape Konstanz with a bit of stress, frigid weather, depressing skies, and ugly traffic of the real world. Having a bike in cities is stressful to say the least. You show up at a train station with out much bearing as to where you are or where you need to go, you have some signs a local map, and the church steeple at the center of town- now how do we leave?

Its been a bit of a mess figuring exactly how we will arrange this bike trip. In the simple mind of Kevin we choose a starting point and start riding into the distant sunset. It does work out this way… BUT… we also start in a region heavily overlaid with pathways (and signs) specific for bikes and 30km from a trans Europe bike path “EuroVelo 6”. Eventually we find a bike route specific book containing detailed maps with the marked route, city plans, and lists of cheapest places to stay.

The EU has funded creating a number of trans Europe bike paths going in various directions with various themes like ‘Atlantic Coast’, or ‘Northern Coast’. Ours is ‘Atlantic Coast to the Black Sea’ and follows the Lorry River (France), Rhine (Germany), and Donau (Germany, Hungary, etc.) to the Black Sea. The theme of following rivers is super handy because it keeps things mostly flat.

Whilst there are seemingly dedicated bike paths everywhere and useful signs at each junction… you still need to have an idea of where you are going, and a map detailing these trails… or life will be stressful. Following an EV route means that at all significant junctions there are unique stickers on the sign indicating which way the EV6 route goes. This saves hours of map reading and confusion. With the EV6 symbols we speed through complex intersections that otherwise might lead us down a dead end roads into the middle of fields.

So, adjacent to the Konsanz train station on the shores of the lake we find the sign post listing distances to all adjacent towns and head off in the direction that ours points. With our 1:600,000 scale map of Germany we at least know the name of the town that we are trying to get to.

After 30km we have joined the EV6 path, it is late in the day and unsatisfied with the hotel selections in town, we keep riding to make camp outside of town.

After 60 km (next day) we have climbed through a very cold, foggy, & majestic Black Forest and been dropped out on the shores of the Donau river.

9 days & 700km later, we are at the German boarder heading into Austria. The river goes from a small Roaring Fork-esk river in the town of Tuttlingen to a Mississippi before reaching the boarder in the city Passau.

Riding through Germany is a fairy tale. We swap between:

• following along the river bank
• wandering along country roads amongst fields of corn, sugar beets, cows, sheep, goats, etc.
• passing through small ancient towns kept alive by summer tourism.

Did I mention that we are following the ‘most popular’ long distance bike path in Europe? The towns are very cool, but partly shut down for the coming winter. My previous experience with Germany was that a festival occurred in nearly every town each weekend. But, that was in the summer, and it is now October. For those of you not in ‘the know’ Munich’s OctoberFest actually occurs in September, and by mid-October the beer gardens are mostly shut down. Some towns have OctoberFest later, but we do not manage to find ANY festivals in Germany… did I mention this is the off-season?

Side note: In September, we knowingly gave up our chance to drink German beer with 500,000 of our closest friends in this famous city to instead find mountains in Switzerland before the snow really set in. (smart choice)

I imagine that in the summer there are MANY people riding this trail… and is probably a nightmare trying to get around large slow moving groups and streams of other bikers out for day rides or multi-day tours. Trails are nearly empty with few day time riders on the weekends and midweek: people commuting or getting exercise in the brief after-work hours. There are no large groups in October. We cross paths with 20-30 long distance riders total. Most notable is a father with 2 of his kids (10-14yr) trying to finish 600km of route a few days faster than us and riding late into the night. Kudos to them for their motivation with a tight schedule, our relaxed schedule allows us to stop before nightfall.

The days are short and a typical one goes something like this:

7:30 wakeup

8:00 Hotel provided breakfast (too cold to ride this early) (oats, yogurt, bread, jam, salami, cheese)

9:30 start riding, sluggish riding in the mornings!

11:30 pastery and coffee break to warm up

13:00 lunch break to warm up, clouds and/or fog might be starting to break; Try to call ahead to make a hotel reservation for the night.

14:00 Continue riding

16:00 additional hot chocolate, grocery, market, or ice cream stop (pending temperature)

17:00-17:30 finish riding and find the cheapest place to stay in town (sunset & darkness is immanent)

19:00 wander around the empty streets of town & find dinner

Austria: We spend 3.5 days riding ~320km from Passau to Vienna. This is our first experience with Austria and although very similar to Germany- there are a few notable differences:

• small variances in the language
• smoking is allowed in the restaurants (often segregated smoking & non-smoking sections)
• Pastries are a bit more expensive, and not as good. The chocolate croissants have pudding inside instead of real chocolate.
• People are even more noticeably ready to provide assistance or directions.

The Donau through Austria is a bit less picturesque than in Germany because the river is now so large, and more industry exists on its banks. The path surface remains asphalt for the remainder of the route. We arrive in Vienna on October 30th. 1000 kilometers & 15 days is our total trip length with 3 semi-rest days in Ulm and Regensburg. You might think that biking for 15 days in cold mediocre weather would be boring: Absolutely not, the constant challenges of living & traveling in a foreign country area a constant source of adventure and entertainment.

Riding Summary:

This is my first bike touring trip with panniers. They are great… I highly recommend the expensive Ortlieb waterproof roll top panniers- yes, worth the money. I’ll be using them more often when I return home! Shammies, gloves, shoes, and warm clothes are also a must. We only have rear panniers which I like: it makes the front of the bike very light weight and easy to move around whilst walking, or roll vertically on the back of the rear tire in tight spaces. Our rear paniers provide sufficient volume for all of our gear (sleeping pad & bag strapped to the top of the rack). We also carry backpacks which are usually empty except for handy items like warm clothes, snacks, or freshly purchased groceries. Having the front handlebar bag which holds and displays the map would also be a godsend… but we have not bought one yet.

The trails are really well done- not like back in USA. In USA, you follow a trail for some distance, then it just ends; you panic and ask where do I go now?’ (aka Glenwood Canyon in high water, South Canyon, and every other bike trail I know of). In the EU paths are designed more as a biking transportation system: there are paths, maps, signs listing destinations & distances. If a trail gets closed, they create a well posted detour. When the path goes on to a road, it is well marked striped and pavement is correctly ramped. In cities, the pavement is often a special extra smooth texture for faster riding (whilst the walking sidewalk & road may be cobblestone or other).

I expect to easily average 50-60 miles per day and do a few days exceeding 100miles. In reality we do average ~50miles per day, but with the limited daylight, heavy loads, route finding, cold weather, and variety of distractions, our longest day is 110km (~65 miles) and a pretty big haul. My assumptions have been made around previous long rides where we have >12 hours of day light, we know our route, limited sight seeing exists on route, and are only riding for 1-2 days (instead of 2 weeks)

Overall: I am pretty excited to come back and take another trip. Starting 1-1.5 months earlier would be ideal (aka Sept 1^st). Perhaps heading through France, then north along the Rhine into Germany, Belgium, then to Denmark, and perhaps continue north bound into Sweden? Europe almost seems easy now… in contrast, surely any 3^rd world country would be a huge challenge. We’ll see! If you are looking for additional inspiration go to www.travelingtwo.com

As I type, we are heading S & W across Austria and Italy heading to Corsica with a total of 7 train connections, 3 days of travel, various biking through towns, and soon: a four hour ferry ride in the Mediterranean. [Vienna – Insbruck (night) – Brennero (now Italy) – Bolzano - Bologna – Prato – Florenze– Livorno (night) – Bastia]. Train tickets totaling to 220 Euro for 2 people & 2 bikes.  

OK, so I have a number of other half written stories about tramping in Russia, walking in Switzerland, biking in Germany, maintaining sanity, eating pasteries, fending off the shreaking eels, and escaping the Fire Swamp. In due time it will all come out. But, I feel abliged to make a more recent update and forcast the next few weeks.

So, here we are in the small town of “Ottensheim” Austria: 86km down river from the German boarder and 2144km upriver from the Black Sea. If it were still summer, I’d predict our arrival at the Black Sea to be 20 days out. But its not summer, the days are short, and we are now looking for warmer climate.

We’ve now biked >700km across Germany and into Austria. Starting at Lake Konstanz on the boarder between Germany & Switzerland in frigid weather we rode up into (and through) the Black Forest which was inundated with fog. We then descended down to the headwaters of the Danue (Danube in English) River. Following the river East we entered Bavarian Germany and passed through many towns including Ulm, Regensburg, & Passau.

Thus far in 10 days of riding we’ve only suffered through 1 day of rain (aka yesterdays all day rain) lucky us!! I could write a book about the wonderful weather we’ve had on this trip… but most people like drama & suspense and this book would not deliver. No flat tires, few broken bike parts, no crisis… yet.

Another moment to talk about the bikes: We are the proud owners of bicycles registered in Switzerland. One new Czech built ‘Superior’ bike with 28in cyclocross/touring wheels. It has a tall 56cm frame and less than top notch components but rides well. The second bike is a ‘Marin’ ‘designed in USA’ with a steel 19in frame I estimate it to be circa 1990. In its own day, a top notch bike with great LX components… today still very functional. Our purchasing criteria was price, quality, and durability to survive the trip… so far so good!

OK… so… we are now 250km from Vienna (Wien auf Deutch) it is Oct. 28^th and here is our plan:

Oct 30^th: arrive by bike in Vienna

Oct 31^st: Tour Vienna & train to Innsbruck

Nov 1^st. Train to Livorno on the western coast of Italy

Nov 2^nd: take a ferry to the island of Corsica

Nov 2nd- 9^th tour & bike tour Corsica

Nov 10^th Ferry & train to Aix en Provance, France

Its now 3:30 AM and powered by coffee we’ve been researching for the last 6 hours to come up with this solution.  The crux of this problem is to get us and our bikes 20+ hours west by train and into warmer weather whilst staying on budget. So, beaches and 75deg weather are finally in the forcast.

News Brief:

On October 9^th 2011 Kevin Passmore attempted to set a new free-solo speed ascent of the Eiger North Face(Nordwand). Although unsuccessful, this was a very promising attempt. Starting from the town of Grindelwald, Passmore ascended to the Nordwand through heavy snow with improving skies. Passmore described conditions as wet and cold starting out.

Kevin Reports:

‘Some of the early challenges included circumventing flocks of small horned Eiger demons: they approached me and kept repeating ‘Bahh… Bahh’ perhaps warning me away from the fearsome wall. I was able to overcome a number of electric fences which perhaps may put up shocking resistance to the typical traveler. Intimidating Eiger cows blocked my path whilst continuously ringing their bells- much like a rattlesnake shaking its tail and blocking the trail. Approaching the Eiger, I trancended from mud to boot deep snow, and eventually to wading through snow exceeding waist deep in reaching the face.

Upon approaching the wall, clouds lifted, and skies cleared bringing the full beauty of the mountain into view. From high above, continuous sluffs of snow poured down the face and spin drift lightly blew off of the upper ridges tumbling down with a light breeze.

In the shadow of the mountain I began to climb upon icy, snowy, and somewhat loose ledges. After a period of climbing, the summit still shown seemingly within reach. It is uncertain how high I ascended up the wall, but after a period of climbing I felt that perhaps today was not meant to be my day. Having spent less than the current record of 2’28” on the wall, I descended and walked away empty handed. Its certainly possible that had I continued I would have reached the summit to set the new record… we’ll never know.

Kevin may be next in line to join the ranks of famed Nordwand Alpinists including the likes of: Uli Steck, Rheinhold Messner, and Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.

The Trip Goal:  Travel Europe for 3 months and don’t break the bank.

The Fixed Dates:

August 22^nd AM catch a planes flying from Denver to Kamchatka, Russia.

September 10^th fly back east 9 hours to Moscow.

September 14^th land in Frankfurt, DE

November 20^th fly from Zurich back to Denver

Whilst our trip to Russia is relatively prearranged, in contrast- our time in central Europe will be make it up as we go. We have no reservations or commitments but instead ideas, goals, and friends in strategic locations… and light bags.

The plan:

1. 9/14 Take a train south out of Frankfurt to the town of Freiburg (chosen purely based upon its location on the train line between Franfurt & Zurich).
2. 9/16 Train to Zurich, Switzerland and visit friends there.
3. ~9/19 Train to Chamonix, France and hike the ‘Walking Haute Route’ East to Zermatt (13 days, 180km)
4. ~10/5 Return to Zurich
5. ~10/6 Unplanned time not sure what to do (7days)
6. ~10/15 Train to Eastern Germany (Regensburg??)
7. 10/?? Buy bicycles and bike tour east from Germany into Austria, Italy, then west into France (20 days)
8. Its November: don’t get too cold!!!
9. ~11/5 Visit friends in Aix En Provance,France (7 days)
10. Train back to Zurich and catch our flight home.

So, we have at least a plan… but we have limited first hand knowledge of what to do, and we expect to be ~1 month behind the optimal season for all activities. Weather may cause serious problems. Also we are not really doing much prepratory research.

Stuff:

What are the strategic items chosen for the trip:

For Kevin:

• 1 large (>5000in3) Backpack for the Kamchatka backcountry
• 1 small (3000kn3) backpack for Haute Route, biking, and traveling by plane
• 1 pair of clothes, 1 pair long underwear, 1 set of rain gear w/ gaitors, 1 warm jacket, 1 warm hat, 1 change of underwear & shirt, warm bike gloves, trail running shoes, hiking boots.
• 1 pack towel
• Toiletries
• learn German books, journal, calendar, blank paper, plane tickets, selection of pens & sharpies
• camera, ipod, headphones, wallet, passport
• spoon, bowl/container
• sleeping bag

Sharable:

• 1 laptop 10in screen Gateway ‘netbook’ 2.5lb
• 2 Thermos(s)
• misc. small items

Shipped in a box to Zurich, Switzerland:

• 2 pair bike shoes & pedals
• 2 Bike seats, water bottles & cages
• 4 Paniers;1 bike panier rack
• bike repair tools; really fancy small bike pump
• 2 Helmets, bike shorts
• spare contacts & other assorted small items
• comfort food, tea

So, the overall trip plan includes choosing the total trip length (3 months), and choosing the location in central Europe to fly into (Frankfurt), the departure airport (Zurich), creating a list of friends, choosing activities, and making a minimalist pile of stuff.   The rest we figure out along the way… off we go!

September 15th 2011 Moscow:

It is always a relief to make it onto the plane and depart the airport. 27 hours after arriving at Moscow’s Domodolovich airport we would have been happy to be on any plane leaving Russia that day. However we were even more fortunate as to still be heading to our intended destination: Frankfurt DE.

At 9am on Sept 14^th the check in lady for the airline looks at our travel documents and passports and simply holds her arms up in front of her symboliizing an X. Much talking in Russia insues. Finally she points to our Visas (a sticker page taped into your passport indicating approval to travel in the specified country) and identifies that our Visas expired on Sept 13^th (yesterday). Thus, without a valid visa to travel in the country, you may also not leave the country. Also, with out a valid visa, you can not rent a hotel room or travel in the country. The lady shoes us away from her checkstand. 

3 hours later our flight leaves without us; exhausted- we sit in the airport, drink tea ($4 per cup), and acknowledged that we still do not know how to solve the problem.

To get issued a Russian travel Visa, one must find a Russian sponsor who will write a letter of recomendation requesting permission to enter the country. Then there is a form/questionaire that you must fill out which included questions including:

25. List all countries you have visited in the last ten years by year

30. do you have any specialized skills, training or experience related to fire-arms and explosives or to nuclear matters, biological or chemical substance?

32. have you ever been involved in armed conflicts?

33. have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense?

Finally, with all proper forms, ones Passport must be submiitted to a Russian Consulate to issue the visa. Websites specify that it will take no less than 3 days to issue a Visa, and up to 20 days. Another website mentions: “getting a Russian Visa is possibly one of the hardest things to do… Second to getting a Russian Exit visa after over-staying your Visa.” Eek! Reading this information I question whether it is wise to tell Megan what I have read… it is not the kind of information that inspires confidence in the situation.

Searching the airport for the Russian Consulate, we eventually give up and make camp outside of the closest resembling office. It is the office of migration and imigration. We have found this office by entering an unmarked small door, and wandering through small whitewashed hallways within the inner belly of the airport… these are the types of hallways I imagine I’d be getting dragged down with a hood over my head to the ‘non-violent and humane’ interigation room by the US Department of Homeland Security if this was an airport in the US… never to be seen again. But, here in Russia we are deperate and any office where someone might help us is worth the risk. Its not the right office to help us, but a number of smart looking people enter and exit the office and look over our passports and speak to us in Russian. I imagine they are asking questions like: “Why do you want to immigrate to Russia?”

With a quiet work space, free WIFI, and money in our skype account we begin to make progress: The US consolate can help us: but first we need reserved seats on a plane leaving Russia. The Airline can issue us new tickets (for a steep fee) as soon as we get our Visas extended… Yes this is a circular problem. So, with some desperate pleading we get things in motion so that we can call it a night. At this point, we believe it is possible to have the Exit Visa issued at the airport in the morning before our flight.

The crux of the issue now is that if we actually pay to reserve our seats on the plane, we don’t know that we will get the Visas. Secondly, If we get the Visas extended but are not given seats on the plane, we will have to repeat the process and pay to get the Visa extended another day (they don’t want to extend it more than one day at a time of course). So, really- any destination outside of Russia is now an ideal place to continue our trip.

In the mean time, I am researching a few things:

• Requirements and criteria for deportation
• Our distance from the Polish border

The deportation process seems OK- but we wouldn’t be able to return to Russia for at least 5 years, and it might take up to 20 days to process. The border is a 10hour train ride away, then I need to find some sort of Sound of Music trail that will take us up through the mountains to freedom whilst we sing ‘The Hills are Alive’. However, Megan is not sold on this idea and I’m concerned about getting train tickets with our expired Visas.

After a good nights sleep in the landing of the stairway, its time for breakfast and to prepare for the day. Fortunately we are carrying a 48hr supply of food to survive this type of emergency crisis. At 9 am we make our first call to the US embassy to check our process status. We just need a few small things still: proof of regestration upon entering the country and receipts from all of our hotels during the our stay. With these things we will be able to get the extensions issued… panic ensues, as these documents are all safely back, in Dallas, Texas. But, with great fortune, we get a scanned copy of the registration and print it at the airport.

The Russian Consulate meets us at 10:30 am infront of the information booth near the airport entrance. I imagine his actual office location is kept secret so that people like us don’t bother him all day. Our contact with the Consulate thus far has been to call him, explain the problem, then have him hang up on us… he was not our favorite person. In a sharp looking pen stripe suit and black hair slicked straight back with gel- the consulate is a man of business. In person, he holds a straight face and speaks fluent english. We talk for a bit, he asks the obvious questions, and he gives us directions.

Timing is tight this morning: we need to get the visa extension, pay for our airline ticket, and check in for our flight before 11:30 am. After that, we will still need to surpass security, customs, and make it to the gate before our flight leaves. Timing is tight, and Megan & I divide tasks: I go to make a deposit to the consulate via the airport bank whilst Megan goes to get our tickets. Then we’ll all meet back with the consulate to give him the receipt and get the visa extensions… we hope. We do at least have one back up plan if we don’t make the checkin: a 3PM flight is going to Northern Germany.

In 1/2 hours time, the payment, Visas, tickets, and check-in are all sorted. Megan snakes us through nearly 1000 people waiting to clear custom in 10 minutes. After security and waiting at the gate, we breath a big sigh of releif when our plane finally leaves the ground.

Kamchatka Part 2: The Volconology Meetings.

September 24th-30th 2011

Topics:  Getting here; Hotel; Meetings; Helecopter Trip; Hiking Excursions; and Banquets.

Getting to Kamchatka: It is nearly 21hours of flying to travel from DIA to PKC. This of course does not count the:

• 3.5hr drive from Glenwood Springs to Boulder;
• 2hrs round trip drive from Dillon back to Avon where Dudley graciously brought me the computer which I’d accidentally left behind… Thanks Dudley!!!
• 0.75hr drive from North Boulder to DIA airport
• 4hr layover in Moscow
• 1hr shuttle ride from PKC airport to the Hotel Flamingo

Yes it is a long journey going from UTC -6 to UTC +13 (thats 19 time zones going the long way around). But, although we think we have it bad- for some it is worse: Mike and Krista live in Fairbanks, Alaska and also fly the long way around for the meeting. Kamchatka does not have an international airport, customs, security, etc. thus international flights must fly through an a hub airport to get there. Per my knowledge, there are about 4 hubs that fly into PKC, ours is Moscow (only 9 time zones west). My parents meet up with us at the gate in Moscow, and we all boarded for PKC together. So, needless to say- we should have been tired upon arriving in PKC… yet with sunny skies we did pretty good during the first day.

You can always count on my mom to be disappointed with the quality of hotels… but this place really earns it! The beds are (I don’t know the right words to describe) and we are bitten by bugs all night long. The good thing about spending the night awake and suffering is that eventually (ie. days) you will get tired enough to sleep through the suffering. The long term solution is to wear mosquito head nets when going to bed. In theory, enough Vodka should work too, but we do not go that route.

Day 4: Hike into the Mutnovski Crater. So, I keep asking around trying to find the Russian translation to “Alpine Start”… I guess that they don’t have one. So at 9am 30 of us assemble outside the hotel as instructed… by 9:45 the monster trucks with people carrying boxes on the back are taking us to the Volcano. By 2pm we have parked at ~6000ft next to a large geothermal power plant (50MW), finished eating lunch and begin the hike. At 2:30, our guide assembles us and explains that it is typically a 9hr hike round trip, and we may have to hurry (thats 12km each way plus elevation gain associated with climbing a volcano). By 10pm we have returned to the trucks in the dark. After 1am we are back at the hotel totally exhausted. The inside of the crater was pretty cool… but for many purposes, similar to our more local volcano crater: Yellowstone National Park, glaciated ice, and a moonscaped mountain all in one place.The meetings ends with a big banquet, an unlimited amount of salmon caviar, smoked salmon (yum) vodka, and a whole lot more. To be more specific: we sit down at a table for 4 where there is 6 full plates of appetizers (each worthy of being its own meal) 2 bottles of wine, a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of cognac. I think they had an unlimited supply of Vodka in the back just in-case. After the eating of appetizers, the moderator initiates the process of proposing toasts… for each toast it is expected that everyone will have a drink. All toasts are made from the center of the room, and if you forget your shot glass when going to make your toast (some toasts take longer than 5minutes) the moderator will refill it and bring it to you. The banquet also includes a singer in a dazzling sparkly silver dress, a DJ, and nearly 1hour of club-style dance music (yes we participated, and yes there was a disco balls & laser lights)… This all before the main course is served.

The jury is in: Yes, club and dance music are the all time top choices of music for Russians. Yes, Lady Gagga has infultrated all the way to far eastern Russia.

Kamchatka is a land where the sea meets a 200km wide, 800km long peninsula of land. A backwards place still struggling to escape communist era, a place where all payments are made in cash, a place where you drive on the right side of the road- yet half of the cars have the driving wheel on the right side of the car. The largest city, Petropavlosky (PKC) home to ~ 200K people. Probably the entire population of Kamchatka is 300K (My guess only… I’m typing this offline- if you want exact numbers- do research). Pretty much everyone lives in PKC in identical Communist Soviet Era appartment complex buildings. Each one 4 stories tall, ~20 units long, built from unpainted crumbling concrete. Once leaving town, eventually it turns to land void of people and instead full of wilderness, volcanos, bears, rivers, and fish.

We have come to Kamchatka under the invitation to participate in the scientific meeting titled ‘Workshop on Subduction Processes’ at the ‘Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’ (in PKC) which occurs every two years. The meeting comprises 150 participants from Russia, Japan, Alaska, and the USA. I know what you are thinking… What are Megan & Kevin doing at a meeting on Volcanology- and I must respond: ‘Hey- When in Rome’. Except here we have replaced that phrase with “When in Kamchatka”.

In 5 short days of meetings and ‘Field Excursions’ we take our first helecopter flight, hike into the caldera of an active volcano, drink Vodka, and learn to eat ‘Big Russian Sausage’.

To the north of PKC the main road is paved for about 2 hours. Beyond that it is gravel. After the end of the road, towns & communities are accessed by small planes and MI8 Helecopters. On August 31^st we drive north 3.5 hours, on the main road before turning off onto a rugged backcountry road. After the first quarter mile of driving, we encounter our first grizzley in a miles-wide open field of blueberries. This is a good opportunity to stop and fix undercarriage damage which has thus far occurred after leaving the main road (including broken electrical cables which has disabled our 4WD).

Our vehicle is a 1980s era Toyota 4WD van carrying the 4 of us plus our guide Dima, and his friend Olec, plus all our gear and dog Tina. Yes, thats right- we are going on an adventure. A 7… er… 10 day backpacking trip in the Kamchatka backcountry. Luckily this Toyota seems to fix just as easily as it breaks (much like other Toyotas). A few more miles… err… kilometers down the road we reach our destination: pretty much the middle of nowhere… defined by the road entering a series of trees, bushes, and creek that would require a much bigger vehicle for continued passage.

8 days later we emerge from the wilderness seeing only one other group people on our last day, and having found a smoldering campfire without any trace of its creators (Sasquatch?). Yes- the fishing is amazing, yes- it is a beautiful country, and yes- it is awesome to meet and hike with people from the other side of the world.

The final testing for the next generation of UpSki Equipment was discussed and evaluated this fall at the Walter’s Hut meetup on Shrine Pass Colorado. Kevin Passmore announced that a small production run of the new Carbon Fiber Control assemblies would be complete by the time an initial production run of 5 canopies was to begin in Early 2011. John Stanford took the test canopies back to his shop for refitting and analysis. Phil volunteered to track down suitable reels for use in the new control assemblies.

As of mid-November all modified canopies have been returned to Colorado complete with upgrades for the Harnesses and control center swivels. John worked hard ahead of his and Sara’s trip to Patagonia to complete repairs on existing canopies as well. Early November Snow in the high country has opened the back country to UpSkiing. Below is a small slide show of the meeting, testing and recent equipment modifications. We encourage anyone who is interested in purchasing a new canopy to discuss color choices with us before material is purchased for the initial production run. The two test canopies are available for evaluation in the field from our Dillon or Glenwood Springs, Colorado locations. Below is a brief slideshow of equipment testing and upgrades.